5. Regrets the lack of concrete proposals to resolve the problems of poverty, social exclusion and the inequitable distribution of resources; urges the Commission to put forward concrete initiatives and efficient implementation measures to enable the desired objectives to be achieved in reality; regards the proposed guidelines ...[+++] as insufficiently binding to achieve any change in the existing trends; points in this connection, by way of example, to the Commission’s initiative aimed at analysing the problem of an ageing society, which seeks to achieve concrete solutions based on the participation both of the various levels of political decision-making in the European Union and of civil society;

25. Supports the definition of initial investment suggested by the Commission and, in particular the differentiation of eligible expenses between SME and large companies as outlined in paragraphs 31et seq. of the draft guidelines on regional aid, but hopes for greater flexibility allowing for specific situations, where this is justified; calls on the Commission, however, to clarify whether, on the basis of the proposed guidelines, the provision of services will be eligible for aid, as well as the supply of products; furthermore considers that, when defining initial investment, the current requirement that the investment should lead to ...[+++]fundamental changes in terms of the rationalisation, diversification or modernisation of the product or production process should continue to be used, since it seems less restrictive than the requirement to bring a completely new product onto the market;

3. The application and amendment of Guidelines adopted pursuant to this Regulation shall reflect differences between national gas systems, and shall therefore not require uniform detailed terms and conditions of third party access at Community level.

Reflecting the political balance of the Lisbon agenda, the proposed Guidelines should foster three complementary and mutually supportive objectives

I would like to reiterate that the Group of the Greens believes that employment policy cannot only have the function of monitoring or softening the peaks and troughs of the globalised economy by creating safety nets, by helping those who are out of work to find their way back into the job market. This is all the Luxembourg process has achieved, it is also, evidently, all that the guidelines proposed by the Commission for 2002 are likely to achieve, and is also all that the Weiler report, which is part of this approach, can achieve.

No major changes have been made in the proposed guidelines, first, because we made changes last year, taking account of the message from Lisbon, and because we are currently in the process of a more general evaluation.